Glitches using Debug mode

Of all the glitches I have seen using Debug - I don't think I have got many with that many artifacts.

 

The second and third I'm familiar with, the three below that are downright impressive. The first is just plain weird.

Mind telling us how you managed this?

 

You know, usually posting about glitches encountered with debug is a bad idea, but I must say: Precisely what the FUCK were you doing in each shot. Those are the strangest things I've ever seen.

 

These are some very strange and (even for Sonic 3&K Debug) unusual.

Left to right:
1. My knowledge may be dim but surley instead of Knuckles tiles AND them being brown (wtf?) Sonics pallete would become red in that area as it has to take that areas palletes. And some tiles there look like a grey version of Sonics shoe. Wtf.
2. The zero there is the same zero that can be seen in debug cordinates. Perhaps if you were to have 10 lives it would show [0]10 or [1]0?
3. Oh the hud being alternated a good lot pixels to the right, just seems odd. Care to share how you managed to do it? But then again. That looks like the boss area. This reminds me of a glitch you can do in Sky High Zone on Sonic 2 GG. Once the bos music plays, run back, then forward again and keep on doing it. The boss music should keep on restarting. Sooner or later the hud will sink past you.
4. See 2.

 

Lets see...

The First one is possible if you swing left in debug, Fly around a bit off screen, And then More Metal Sonics will come accordingly.

The Second... I don't know what happened, but it seems Tails shared a similer fate as the guy from Fargo... You know who I'm talking about...

Third one is Odd, sence you don't Snowboard in Act two... But I have an idea on how it was achieved.

The Fourth and Fifth one are easy. You do what I told you in Pic one, And when you kill one, The credits roll accordingly As The other Metal Sonic(s) Fly about... Of course, you use Knuckles in Dubug instead of Sonic, or you cannot get to the end of the credits...

 

That weird zero is there if you get over 99 lives. Example: (weird zero) 1=101 lives.

 

If I remember correctly, the Metal Sonic boss is simply a debug-placeable object, so it's not too hard to do.
The garbage above the Master Emerald is, I believe, caused by you placing an object for which the tiles aren't loaded properly. For example, if you place an S monitor to turn into Super Sonic. When Metal Sonic appears, some of his tiles replace those for the S monitor (since the Genesis has limited VRAM, and you're never supposed to have monitors in that battle) - hence the garbage. I've also seen that effect when turning into Super Sonic for the final boss in Sonic 3 - using monitors.

The end boss in Sky Sanctuary (and associated end sequence) is a perfect target for all kinds of debug-induced effects. I've had Sonic fly the plane with a CYAN Knuckles on the wing, Knuckles on the wing while Knuckles is flying the plane, Sonic running in mid-air as the plane goes behind the island, and even the starry 'space' background appearing just above the water as the plane comes down! And of course, any S monitor garbage that you place with debug REMAIN as the ending sequence plays - regardless of whether you hit it or not.

I'm at work right now, but if I was at home I'd fire up Gens and take some screenshots

 

I've managed to get Sonic stuck in Knuckles' ending sequence forever. Made for a nice screen saver, I must say.

 

Damn, those are some messed up as hell glitches.

 

Posting about glitches found in debug mode is generally frowned upon, as debug mode is very prone to glitching and almost never means anything in the long run. But damn son, those last few ones are crazy. Kudos for that, at least.

 

I'd love to know what the whole reversing-gravity deal is. Why is that even there?

 

For testing the code used in DEZ, obviously.

 

Pressing A in S3K debug mode inverts the gravity.

 

The weirdest thing happened to me. I was playing S3K on Hydrocity, and was using debug mode to skip to the boss when I came to an area that looked almost exactly like HCZ2, but with no objects. When I couldn't go any further. I moved backwards into the boss area. When the fight started, I placed several S monitors and spindashed through them. After Sonic reached the edge of the boss area, I couldn't move at all. I pressed start and the game reset, but it had the S&K opening and title screen! I pressed A+Start on Sonic and it brought me to the regular level select screen, and I tried to go to HCZ2 again, but it brought me to MHZ! Just like in S&K! Also, it brought me to a place in the middle of the zone with debug mode active. Even if I pressed Start and A, it would still be S&K.

 

Yeah, I beleive if you place too many S Monitors in a level and then spindash through them all at roughly the same time, S3&K will reset itself back to S&K alone. Happens to me all the time in HCZ, quite annoying I guess.

Any Techies have a specific reason why this happens? I'm pretty sure it's been explained in more detail before, but I'm not sure which topic exactly.

 

Something tells me it's an unfixed pointer in the vector table. Hitting so many monitors triggers an exception, and I think that specific exception points to the code for the S&K title screen, compared to the S3K one. Once the S&K title screen is accessed in S3K, I think it sets the game back into "S&K mode," in the sense that it completely disregards the fact that S3 is even connected to S&K at the current moment.

Can you still access S3 levels? If so, then I think there's a routine in S&K that resets the level to MHZ if the offsets for data in the main level load block are invalid. The way I see it, S3 is still connected as a data source, just not "as a game," if you get what I mean.

It'd be nice if somebody who's actually looked at the code to confirm/debunk what I've said.

 

No, I couldn't access the S3 levels at all. It was like the rom separated itself. It's an easy was to get debug mode in Sonic and Knuckles, though.

 

Am I the only one to who Sonic 3 doesn't have that bug? Even if I put 1000 monitors (and yes, I know that there is a limit of items that can be put in the screen at the same time), I can't get the MegaDrive crashing. :/ Of course that my cartidge has some strange issues, too, but I don't remember if it has something to do with that it's the Japanese version or what...